Door suspension for vehicles, especially automobiles



Aug. 21-, 1945. T. ULRICH 2,383,428

DOOR SUSPENSION FOR VEHICLES ESPECIALLY AUTOMOBILES Original Filed July 17, 1941. 2 Sheets-Sheet l I I N V EN TOR Theodore Ulrich,

A TTORNE Y us- 1945- T. ULRICH 2,383,428

DOOR SUSPENSION FOR VEHICLES ESPECIALLY AUTOMOBILES Original Filed July 17, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I/NVE/VITOR [3 37 Theodore [/lrlbil/ A TTORNE Y Patented Aug. 21, 1945 DOOR SUSPENSION FOR VEHICLES, ESPE- CIALLY AUTOMOBILES Theodore Ulrich, Brid Edward G.

geport, Conn, assignor to Budd Manufacturing Company,

' Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvanla O iginal application July 17, 1941, Serial No.

402,878. Divided and this application April 3,

1942, Serial No. 437,500

2 Claims. (01. 29628) The invention relates to improvements in the suspension for the doors of vehicles and more particularly of automobiles.

Among the objects of the invention is a door suspension which does not require the strengthdiminishing cut-outs of the door posts which had lliiiflherto been necessary for so-called concealed ges.

Other objects of, the invention and its advantagesand features will become apparent from the following description of an embodiment and the illustration of the latter in the attached draw- Ill the drawings:

Figure 1 is an exploded view of one side wall member, the appertaining fenders, and of an automobile roof of the body adapted for the invention;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary side elevation of the body in the region of the lower'sectlon of a front door post showing the hinges for. the front door and the adjacent section of the door;

Figure3 is a horizontal section through one of the front door hinges and the adjacent body and' door portions along line 3-3 of Figure 2, yet

. on a larger scale;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary section along line 4-4 of Figures 2 and 3 on about the scale of Figure 3, showing in section also a portion of the fender which is, for the sake of clarity, omitted in Figure 2;

Figure 5 is a section through the front door post and adjacent side wall and front door post portions along the line 5-5 of Figure 2 on about the same scale as Figures 3 and 4;

Figure 6 is a vertical fragmentary section through the fender, the adjacent motor compartment wall and the'motor hood in the region where these members meet.

The body superstructure shown in the drawings comprises as large units or one-piece stampings: the side wall units or stampings, A;' the combined windshield-, roof-, and rear "wallstamping or unit B; the doors C, .the' front fenders D, the rear fenders E, and the motor hood F.

The side wall units or stampings A extend practically over the entire length; 'of the automobile so as to surround the 'dooropenings 30, 3|, and so as to form the upper portion of the rear quarter side panel 32 with the 'rear quarter v side window 33,.the front wheel-housing 34 and the remaining' portion 35 of the motor compart-'- mentside wall, the rear wheel housing-[36 and adjacent lower panel portions 36', the threshold portions 31, the iinper door rail portions 38, the

middle door postl lthe frontdoor post portion 44, and the rear door post portion 4|.

The front wheel housing 34 comprisesthe gene erally vertical skirt and the 'crown 42, which latter merges into the motor compartment side wall portion The portion 35 is outwardly offsetat along its upper margin, which oifsetis forwardly continued along the forward part of,"

the wheel housing 34, as shown in Figure 1. An inwardly extending flange 44 is provided along the-greater part lit the offset portion 43.

The rear marinallportion of the wall 35 is .l-ikewise outwardly oflset at 45 and then provided with an inwardly ,directedflange 46 which forms the jamb face of the front door :post. An inclined portion 41- connects the offset portion 45 and the main body of the portion 35. The flange if r 46 is reinforced by u sectlonrail 48 which nests portion 49Qproper and upwardly and rearwardly' extending panel portions. 50. The forward marginal portions of, the fender 49 proper and the forward upp r. margins of vthe panel p'ortion so 7 are provided tlklnwardly ,d e bed fla es 'li2 whichioverlap afreco'nnected, such as by bolts and nuts ttg-tothefl-flangejll of the wheel "housing and ale-Martens portions 24-, as.

The ledge formed-{by the ,flange' '52 is covered by the marginal" marginpfthe ho F which overlies flange 52 is arrangedlatjthe I1 I, t of'the belt-line and provided i ithajbei't hnemolding 55 held by clips orthe'lilseflr f K I The rearward 'po tio'n of; flange 44 is connected to the marginal portion 51 of the cowl extension 5,8 whichfforms'part or the windshield-, roof-,-

rear-walleunit. Bi Flange 44 and Lthe marginal {portion-51 are, rigidly secured in the finished body tonne, anothersuchas by spot welding. Slightly in'fr'ontofthe anvil portion 59proper, the flange 52 of thewheelhousing member D is provided with a downwardly directed flange 60. A bolt (not'shown) is fastened to saidflange 60 andextends through a hole BI the side wall offset 43 and the downwardly extending marginal portion 51 of the cowl. extension 58. In the region of thecowl 59 proper and of the, front or A-post, the fender unit D has its flange 52 upwardly extended rtion E4 ofthe hood F. The

at 63. The extension 88 is attached by a couple of bolts to the side wall A which is provided for this purpose with holes 68.

The front fender unit D is provided along its rear margin with a narrow inwardly directed flange 18 which is continued by a forwardly directed flange or tabs II. This flange II is covered continuously or at certain intervals with a rubber or the like cover 12. Z-shaped clips 13 are attached to the offset portion 45 of the side wall unit and the flange II is slid from the rear under the outwardly offset arms I4 of these clip and held there firmly and without danger of rattling due to the resiliency of the clips and of the rubber covering 12.

The side wall portion 41 is reinforced below the belt-line by a stamping or the like 15. One member 76 each of two vertically spaced hinges is fastened to the side wall at the ends of the re-v inforcing member 15. These members 18 are reinforced by marginal flanges 'l'lwhich converge toward the rear of the car and form together with the remaining main portion of the member 18 a narrow U-section member. The correspondingly shaped outer end 18 of the second hinge member 10 is slid over the rear end of the member I8 and the two ends are journalled to one another by a hinge pin 88. The open sides of the ends of the two hinge members I8 and I8 face toward each other.

Whereas the hinge member 18 is substantially straight, the hinge member 19 is angle formed in plan view-Figure 3. The inner arm 8I of the hinge member 19 is secured to the hinge rail 82 of the front door C, and, the other arm 83 is arranged on the inside of the door overlap flange 84. It will be noted that the door post portion 45, 41, I are only slightly recessed at the location of the hinges, but that there are no interruptions or openings in the post for the entrance of any hinge members, as they are usual with the customary hinges of the concealed type.

The front fender unit D is provided with cutcuts 85 at the location of the hinges and the margins of these cut-outs are reinforced by pressedout beadings 86Figures 3 and 4. These cutout portions are practically completely closed by the forward portion 18 of the respective hinge arm 83. This portion 18 is curved concentrically to the axis of the hinge pin 80 so that in all positions' the cut-out portions 85 are nearly completely covered.

After the assembly of the stationary parts of r the body and the attaching of the front door hinges by the bolts I8 and 19, the flange II of the front fender unit D is slid from the rear under the arms I4 of the clips 13, then fastened by its flanges 63, 60, 52 and by means of the bolts 58 and those passing through holes BI and 88 to the margins of the side wall portion 35 and of the wheel housing 34. The connection in the cowl and D post region is then covered by a moulding strip (not shown).

The construction of the upper portion of the front door post 40, of the header rail 38 above the door openings 38, 3|, of the rear quarter side window 33. as well as of the adjacent parts of the windshield-. roof-, and-rear-wall-unit B, and the relative arrangement of these members and their connection may be conventional and is, therefore, not shown or described in detail. The con nection between the units A and B is hidden from view for. the greater part of its length by the drip channel 88 so that only the short seam 88 between the end of the channel 88 and the belt-line requires a careful finishing operation.

The lower horizontal side margin of the unit B in rear of the seam 88 is inwardly and downwardly offset at 84--Figure 1-so that the offset marginal portion 94 overlies and is fastened, such as by spot welding, to the marginal portion of the panel portion 38' below the belt-line. The rear fender unit E comprises a fender portion 81 proper and upwardly and forwardly extending panel portions 98. The upwardly extending panel portion 98 is inwardly and upwardly offset at I08. The offset portion I00 is fastened to the side panel portions 85 and the connection is covered by a moulding (not shown). The fender E is furthermore fastened along the lid opening margin I89. The construction of this connection along lines 85, I88 and I88 between the fender E and the units A and Bis similar to the construction for the front fender. The fender unit E is connected along its front margin to the post 4 in a manner which corresponds to the construction of the front fender D and its connection as shown in Figure 5.

The main portion of the panel 88' in the rear of the Jamb face along the rear door post 4| forms, together with the front margin of the fender unit E, a rabbet for the reception of the overlap flange of the rear door C. The same is of course also true for the front fender flange 10, the panel portion 45 and the overlap flange 84 or the front door-Fig. 5. The tender unit E is provided with cut-outs I I I similar to the cut-outs 85 of the front fender, which are filled in by the rear door hinges the construction and arrangement of which may be very similar to the construction and the arrangement of the corresponding parts of the front hinges.

The disclosed hinge suspension, in which the hinge attaching portion 41 of the body wall is spaced from and faces the detachable panels 48, 58, has the advantage that, upon removal of the detachable panel the fastening means for the hinge end is freely accessible from the outside,

and the further advantage that the securing zone I of applicant's co-pending application SerialNo.

402,878, Body for vehicles, especially for pleasure automobiles," filed July 17, 1941, of which the present application is a division.

What is claimed is:

1. In a vehicle body, a wall defining an opening, a closure member within said opening, a hinge post on said body wall along one margin of said opening, a hinge rail on said closure member adjacent said hinge post, a hinge comprising two jour nailed members, the first one of said hinge members being fastened to said post from the outside in a region spaced from the margin and away from the center of the opening, the second one of said hinge members being attached to said hinge rail of the closure member and having a portion overlapping the outer surface of said hinge post, a panel removably attached to said post and overlying the outer side of the latter, said panel constituting in its region the outer surface of the body and being provided with a cut-out portion in front of said hinge, said cut-out portion being closed by a portion of said second hinge member when said closure member is in the closed position and permitting swinging movement of said second hinge member, the connection between said first hinge member and said post becoming accessible upon the removal of said panel, said hinge post comprising a rail member extending transversely to said wall and along said opening .and an inner panel member extending at an angle to the plane of the removable panel and structurally connected to the outer marginal portion of said rail member, said panel member constituting part or the inner body well. said first hinge member being fastened to the outside of said panel member which latter is covered by said removable panel.

2. In a vehicle body, a wall surrounding an opening, a closure member for said opening, a panel readily detachably secured to said wall and presenting part of the outer body surface adjoining one margin of said opening, hinge members respectively secured to said closure member and said wall near said margin, the hinge member secured to said wali being arranged behind said panel and the hinge attaching portion of the wall being spaced from and facing the detachable panel so that it becomes easily accessible for removal or securement upon removal of said panel.

THEODORE ULRICH. 

